Overview The Native Americans The Great Plains The State of America Exploring the Frontier Homestead Act The Transcontinental RR Native Relations Dawes Act Cowboys Settlers THINK ABOUT IT Why did Americans move Why did Americans move West and what was the result? What would push you What would push you to move to an unsettled place? to an unsettled place? When I was a boy, the Sioux owned the world; the sun rose and set on their land; they sent ten thousand men to battle. Where are the warriors today?... Where are our lands? Sitting Bull 1868 Native American Culture in Crisis Between the 1850s & 1890, settlers flocked to the West in search of gold or land. In the process, they nearly destroyed the traditional culture of Native Americans living on the Great Plains. Competition for land often led to bloody conflict These are Native Americans The Great Plains Colorado, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota Oklahoma, South Dakota, and Wyoming The State of America at the Time America was big, and the further you got into America the bigger it became, both landscapes and the natural wonders and artifacts. Paul Johnson Why expand westward into the heart of America? Land Railroad Industry Agriculture Gold The State of America at the Time Population By Year By 1860, America & its people were growing faster than any country. Life expectancy grew & infant mortality dropped. 1865: 39,818, : 50 million : 62,847,714 (More than any European nation except Russia.) 1900: 75 million : 100 million + The State of America at the Time Natural increase was aided by mass-immigration to 1865: Over 5 million From Europe (50% English, 40% Irish) to 1890: Over 10 million From Great Britain, Germany, Scandinavia to 1914: Over 15 million From Eastern & Southern Europe. From 1910 to 1914: Immigration average? One million per year. America was becoming overcrowded. Where are these people to go? West. Settlers Explore the Frontier Clash of culture ensued when settlers came in contact with Natives. Settlers determined the land had been forfeited since Natives did nothing to improve it. Homestead Act of 1862 Granted 160 acres of federal land, must be cultivated for five years. 10% of the United States will be given away. Homestead Act of 1862 Never in human history, before or since, has authority gone to such lengths to help the common people become landowners. -Land was not suitable to familiar methods of farming. -Farmers dug into water tables & developed drought resistant strains of grain. Exodusters: African- Americans who moved from the South to Kansas following Reconstruction in a great exodus. Transcontinental Railroad 1862: Pacific Railroad Act is passed giving federal lands to Union Pacific and Central Pacific to construct the first transcontinental railroad. Union Pacific: Missouri River, through the Great Plains, to the Rocky Mountains Central Pacific: Sacramento through the Sierra Nevada Transcontinental Railroad Met at Promontory Summit, Utah, on May 10 th, 1869 Transcontinental Railroad Central Pacific Railroad Company 3,000 Irish workers 10,000 Chinese workers Union Pacific Railroad Company Civil War Veterans and Irish Hundreds would die due to inclement weather, occupational hazards, or Native attacks. The human cost was extravagant: In 1889, the Interstate Commerce Commission shows that more than 22,000 workers were killed or injured. Both companies would lay as much track as possible to raise profits. Union Pacific had built 1,086 miles Central Pacific had 689 miles California Gold Rush of 1849Colorado Gold Rush of 1861 Native Relations Nonintercourse Act of 1834: Set aside the Great Plains as one large reservation. Stated that no white person could enter Native country without a license. 1851: Due to excitement from the gold rush, Treaty of Fort Laramie is signed. Peace follows for a short while. In time this would bring a clash with settlers. Plains Indian (Native) Wars Roughly from the 1860s 1880s. Uprisings by hostile tribes of the Great Plains horse and buffalo cultures. Subdued by buffalo extermination and campaigns by the US military. Massacre at Sand Creek in 1864 Massacre at Sand Creek The Cheyenne raided trails off their reserve for supplies. -Colorado Gov. orders the militia to suppress the raiders. -Those who do not wish to fight were to report to a fort where they would be safe. Colonel John Chivington led an attack on the fort, by order, in which he killed 70 200 Cheyenne. Mostly women & children Fetterman Massacre on Bozeman Trail The Sioux were bothered by settlements established on the Bozeman Trail (Wyoming). When requests from the tribes went unanswered, the Sioux and other tribes began attacks. Cpt. William J. Fetterman and his company troops were ambushed and around 80 were killed Aftermath of the Fetterman Massacre Skirmishes continued (1866 1868) Sioux (forced to) signed the Treaty of 1868 Agreed to live along the Missouri River reservation in return for support from the govt. Treaties rarely did much to stop the fighting or conflict between settlers & Natives. [We] have been taught to hunt and live on the game. You tell us that we must learn to farm and take on your ways. Suppose the people living beyond the great sea should come and tell you that you must stop farming kill your cattle what would you do? Would you not fight them? Gall, a Sioux tribes Conflict with the Kiowa & Comanche In the Southern Plains, two tribes refused to move to reservations. Thus began a raiding spree (lasted 6yrs.) that would lead to the Red River War ( ) To fight the resistance, the US Army often massacred tribesmen to crush moral and their will to fight. Strategy was to deny the Natives any safe haven through constant attack. This included getting rid of the buffalo. Custer & His Last Stand Causes Gold Rush, Settlers, Culture Clash Result Custers Last Stand After a Sioux victory at Rosebud Creek (Montana), their next challenge was Custer. Seeking fame & absolute victory, Custer rode against 2,000 3,000 Native warriors With 200 men. The battle lasted less than half an hour. All US troops were killed. Aftermath US citizens want revenge. Sitting Bull retreats to Canada. Dawes Act (1887) & Assimilation Dawes Act Assimilate Natives into American culture. How? Privatize land through property ownership by family rather than tribe. Any land left over would be sold to settlers. Educating Natives We know that you highly esteem the kind of learning taught in those colleges, and that the maintenance of our young men, while with you, would be very expensive to you. We are convinced, therefore, that you mean to do us good by your proposal, and we thank you heartily. But you who are wise must know that different nations have different conceptions of things; and you will therefore not take it amiss if our ideas of this kind of education happen not to be the same with yours. We have had some experience of it: several of our young people were formerly brought up at the colleges of the northern provinces; they were instructed in all your sciences; but when they came back to us, they were bad runners; ignorant of every means of living in the woods; unable to bear either cold or hunger; knew neither how to build a cabin, take a deer, or kill an enemy; spoke our language imperfectly; were therefore neither fit for hunters, warriors, or counselors; they were totally good for nothing. We are, however, not the less obliged by your kind offer, though we decline in accepting it: and to show our grateful sense of it, if the gentlemen of Virginia will send us a dozen of their sons, we will take great care of their education, instruct them in all we know, and make men of them." Wounded Knee: The Last Battle 7 th Calvary 20 45 killed Sioux Tribes 300 400 killed (most women & children) Soldiers rounded up 350 Sioux and brought them to Wounded Knee Creek. A shot was fired by accident leading the military to open fire on the camp. Most in the camp were unarmed. The Growth of the Cattle Industry As settlers took over the Native American lands, they developed a thriving cattle industry. Learning skills and borrowing from Mexicans, cowboys herded cattle and shipped them by railroad to growing cities in the east. The cowboy became one of Americas most Romantic figures. By the 1880s droughts, blizzards, and the introduction of barbed wire ended the cattle frontier. Growth of the Cattle Industry The Texas Longhorn Characterized by their horns (up to 8ft!) Not native to the United States, they were introduced by Spanish settlers in the 1500s. Before railroads, it was hunted and used primarily for hits hide. After railroads were built, the Longhorn became noted for its dairy and beef. The Cowboy Known as the Vaquero in Mexico, the Cowboy was vital to the growth of the cattle industry. Before the railroad: Cattle were slaughtered for their hides After the railroad: Cattle could be transported to cities where food was in demand. Air conditioned cars. The Cowboy Cattle Dealer, Joseph McCoy desired to create a shipping yard where the trail would meet the rail. Abilene, Kansas, would become that city. From Abilene, cattle could be transported anywhere. Thus, the Chisholm Trail was born & ran from San Antonio to Abilene. The Cowboy 1 in 4 were African- American. 1 in 10 were Mexican. Often leading herds ranging from 1,000 to 4,000 or more, the Cowboy had a tough job. In 1887, lasting just over 20 years, the Cowboy would see its end due to barbed wire and bad weather. City dwellers glorified the Cowboy for their life of adventure. Sleeping outdoors, riding horses, confronting Natives (not as frequent as one may believe.). Spring Round up. Brand them, herd them. The Long Drive. Could last 3 months or more. Cities and Towns Prosper Tacoma, Reno, Fresno, Cheyenne, Billings, Albuquerque all grew from the Railroad. Chicago, St. Louis, Omaha, Sioux City all became major meat-packing centers. Settlers & Farmers By 1865, there were 20,000 pioneers who had migrated westward. By 1905, 500,000 more would become Homesteaders. However, over two million families would buy land from railroad companies, the government, or through other means. Settlers & Farmers Farmers in the Great Plains experienced a variation of different hardships: Floods, fires, droughts, blizzards, locusts, and the threat of Native Americans. The weather was the biggest threat. Farmers lived in soddies. Women had better opportunity in the Great Plains: Ratio of men to women was about 100 to 1. Women worked side by side with men and often owned land or businesses. Settlers & Farmers Inventions by John Deere (Steel Plow in 1837) and Cyrus McCormick (Reaping Machine in 1847), seed drills and barbed wire, made work easier. However, it would puy many farmers into debt. Morrill Land Grant Act of 1862 Passed to help support agricultural education by granting federal lands to states to form agricultural colleges. The Hatch Act of 1887 built agricultural research stations to make farming Improvements such as threads of grain that were able to survive in droughts.